Baseball Fundraising Ideas to Raise More

Baseball fundraising is a great way for school baseball teams, summer leagues and traveling teams to earn extra money to support their program. Money raised for baseball fundraising typically goes towards team uniforms, new equipment, training tools, and often for travel expenses, tournament entry fees and umpire fees for traveling teams. Although there are many fundraising initiatives that work well, baseball fundraising ideas that are specific to a particular need will work best. Make sure to explain the cause for the fundraiser, as people are more willing to contribute to your baseball program if they understand where the money is going. Below are some great examples of successful baseball fundraisers.

Our #1 Baseball Fundraising Idea: Plan a Hit-A-Thon Fundraiser for the Team

The perfect fundraising event for baseball teams is a hit-a-thon. This type of fundraiser works just like any walk-a-thon or peer-to-peer event. Players ask relatives, friends, and neighbors to make a pledge or donation to help a certain cause (to cover tournament fees, pay for new uniforms, etc). Pledge amounts can be calculated either per completed hit or longest distance hit, with each participant getting a certain number of pitches, or contributors can choose to donate a fixed amount. A great way to obtain a lot of donations easily and quickly is through our online peer-to-peer fundraising platform – DoJiggy Pledge. Players create personal fundraising pages where they upload photos, explain their mission and have people make secure donations online. Participants can send out an email donation request letter or social media appeal that includes a link directly to their personal fundraising page.

Using DoJiggy Fundraising Software for Hit-a-thons Makes Planning and Implementing a Hit-a-thon Easier and More Successful.

Planning a hit-a-thon in conjunction with another event tends to work really well to increase attendance. For example, host the hit-a-thon on team picture day when parents, players and friends are already gathered together to take team and individual photos for the season. After photos are taken, teams go to “hitting lanes” where every player hits several balls from a tee. Coaches record the longest distance batted on the player Hit-a-thon pledge card. This distance is used to calculate distance pledges. For older kids, a hit-a-thon could be run where each participant receives a certain number of pitches and pledges are collected for completed hits. After the hit-a-thon concludes, gather parents, family and friends together for a season kick-off BBQ event. Give out prizes for the longest ball hit and the largest amount of pledges collected. Consider hosting a fundraising raffle as part of the event where attendees can buy raffle tickets for a chance to win various prizes donated by businesses in the community. This is a fun way to earn even more money for your cause!

For more information about hosting a hit-a-thon event including sample pledge forms, participant waivers, flyers and more visit our walk-a-thon and peer-to-peer fundraising resource center.

7+ More Great Baseball Fundraisers

Baseball Team Sponsorships

One of the biggest money-makers for baseball fundraising is soliciting team sponsors. Players, coaches and parents can help identify and reach out to local businesses to ask for donations. The team may want to establish various levels of sponsorship and outline the benefits sponsors will receive at each level prior to requesting donations. Businesses may be more likely to support the team, knowing that they will receive something in exchange for their donation.

A basic sponsorship requires a smaller donation (i.e. $100 – $250). At this level, sponsors receive benefits such as a link from the team website and the sponsor’s logo on the team banner. Offering larger sponsor levels such as a “Title Team Sponsor” can bring in much larger donations ($1,000+). This sponsorship level will receive enhanced benefits such as logo on team jerseys, a featured advertisement on the team web site, and recognition on team plaques and trophies. If the title sponsor is a local restaurant, offer to host team parties at their location. This is a great benefit as you’ll be bringing customers in and introducing parents and community members to their restaurant. Don’t forget to ask sponsors permission to set up a donation jar at their establishment. You may be able to bring in some extra revenue from customers visiting their location who are willing to throw in a few extra bucks to support your team or non-profit organization.

As with any fundraising sponsor, be sure to thank sponsors for their contributions. Sending a thank-you letter at the end of the season, recognizing sponsor contributions on the team website or newsletter, and inviting sponsors to team parties are all great ways to show appreciation and possibly bring them back again in future years.

Team Car Washes

The old classic car wash is a great baseball fundraiser because they are successful at raising funds and the kids can run them. Get your groove on in making this event a one stop shop for busy parents and community members. Task your players with making and selling deli sandwiches as well as washing cars. Ask a local café to set up shop to sell cappuccinos, and create a convenient and delicious stop for busy adults to drive off in a clean car. Teams can even offer car washes right at the baseball diamond and during Saturday tournaments.

Walk-a-thons or Fun Runs for the Team

Walk-a-thon fundraisersare a great way to use the power of community members to come together and raise money from their network of family and friends. Participants commit to collecting pledges and donations for your softball or baseball team and often work in teams to inspire others. Consider reaching out to business sponsors for the event, and you could have them sponsor mile markers, provide in-kind support of water or food or create a matching gift challenge to increase participation for money raised. Tracking and monitoring donations and participants can be overwhelming for some groups, which is why ourPeer-to-Peer Software for walk-a-thonsis a great tool to ensure that your walk-a-thon is a success. Using walk-a-thon software helps to create a seamless experience for both the participants and donors. Tracking donations made far and wide, ensuring pledges are paid and allowing credit card payments to be processed online come together to help ensure any event is a success.

Baseball Fundraising Cards or Discount Card Fundraisers

Scratch-off fundraising cards work well for players of all ages and have become a popular choice for baseball and baseball teams and leagues. The scratch off card can be customized with your team name, slogan and relevant sports design. Each player is given at least one scratch card containing 50 concealed dots. Players ask friends, family, and neighbors to participate by scratching off one or more dots. Each dot reveals a pre-determined donation amount. Typically these amounts do not exceed $10, with the lowest donation being $1. In return for participating, each donor is given a sheet of coupons from national merchants (such as Domino’s Pizza, Jiffy Lube, or Target) with savings worth more than $100.

A similar idea to the scratch card is the fundraising discount card. Rather than leaving the donation amount to chance by scratching off dots, players sell these cards for a set fee (i.e. $10 per card). Each card then entitles the donor to numerous discounts with national chains or local businesses. The card clearly pays for itself with the savings the purchaser receives. These discount cards can be securely sold online and top fundraisers tracked with our peer-to-peer software.

Online Team Spirit Merchandise Sales

If your team has a following, online merchandise sales are an easy way to bring in some dough. Better yet, with our free online stores for non-profits, there are no setup costs. Simply design your team gear on Printful, a company that prints and ships your items on demand. You can sell t-shirts, hoddies, hats, bags, socks, cell phone covers and more. Then add the products to your online store at a price that guarantees your team profits from each sale.

Miniature Golf Tournaments

Hosting a mini-golf tournament is a great fundraising activity for youth baseball teams. Just like a regular charity golf tournament, a mini-golf event is fun, encourages team-building, and can bring in a great deal of funds. The great thing about mini golf is that anyone can play and it only takes a couple hours, rather than an entire day on the golf course. Sell refreshments and fundraising raffle tickets to raise extra money and bring out the whole family to enjoy a day of miniature golf for your favorite baseball team!

Breakfast Fundraisers

The nice thing about a breakfast fundraiser is that it does not take nearly the amount of time to organize as some large fundraising events, but it still raises significant funds while bringing members of your organization and the community together in a social setting. In order for your breakfast to be successful, however you must be organized and have a strong team of dedicated parent volunteers. While pancake breakfast fundraisers are popular school and sports fundraisers, you are certainly not limited to that idea alone. Offering more gourmet and brunch like options will allow you to charge more for admission and draw a larger audience. Of course, you’ll need the chefs and cooks to make this happen.